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Kisling
Considered the most powerful active swordsman of Sif. Participated in the beginning of the Ring Saga. Biography: Kisling was born in Enders 1078 CC. He never knew his father, but her mother claims he was a wealthy noble. Unfortunately, his mother had told him, his father died before he had time to divorce his current wife and marry Kisling's mother. But, still according to her story, he left enough money so that she could move her shop to Belharas in Hardnit. Accordingly, Kisling grew up in Belharas where his mother sold scented oils and candles, but getting older, he couldn't remember any details about the shop in Enders, and she never explained why they had to move. As a kid, Kisling used to daydream about returning to Enders. He saw himself as a master thief, living a luxurious life pretending to be a noble in the daytime. So when he was 12, he ran away to Enders, but he didn't get very far, since the carriage driver from which he tried to hitch a ride simply drove him back home. When he was 15, he planned his escape somewhat better and left for good. A few days travel from Enders he had dream. It was the goddess Sif calling him to the main temple by the Tirskil in Falandria. Encouraged by this vision, he went on to Enders anyway spending what few belongings he had before going to the Sif temple. Sif's warriors are called swordsmen. Their role is to roam city and countryside defending freedom and happiness. Armed with a bastard sword, they walk without fear accepting no unjust 'law'. Not knights of any 'order', but of the people. Kisling had never heard of the swordsmen before, but it was in more than one sense a dream come true. He was exceedingly talented with the bastard sword, and was the fastest learner anyone could remember. He rose through the 'ranks' with cometary speed. There aren't really ranks for swordsmen, but they constantly challenge each other to mock duels to get their relative positions straight. He went on some missions assigned by the priestesses, but by and large he spent his life as a regular adventurer. His most cherished accomplishment came about in 1101, when he and Tarqin discovered a Sun Lands plot to capture the free city of Koira by a 'Trojan Horse' plot to hoist an elite force into the city hidden in a giant crate. After that episode, he ranked an unofficial number two after the veteran Artagel. At that time the Ring Saga began to unfold. The Sif priesthood should play a major role, Kisling argued, and went ahead. But things did not quite go as planned, he had acquired a cloak of protection and other magic items, including his cherished sword, the "Equalizer". And he liked to wear them at all times, even if it meant sweating in the smelly mouse-gray cloak. It hid his sword, he used to argue, perhaps the only one not to understand that a stranger with shifty eyes sitting in the corner having the full room in view with one hand under his cloak did nothing to reassure anybody. The young boy with his head swimming with ideas had become a curt man with an agile body and a rigid mind. If nothing else, the Ring Saga was a great opportunity to gain friends and foes. At the beginning, the quest was to track down some tiles that had something to do with a demon. Kisling was no great detective, but he knew that the Pandese were looking too, and in October 1102 he followed two Dragon Knights and their squad of kaerl ungar (squires, in this case) to Servan, at that time a lawless city ruled by pirates and street gangs. There, he dueled and killed Green Dragon LXV. At the time, Kisling felt great. But though it was a blow to the face of the Pandese Empire and Emperor Hardaukar "the Terrible", it did not really advance Kisling's cause. Later, in June 1103, he squared off with Kurtzios, a Pellan fighter in the pay of the New Sun Lands, and here Sif's famous head-chopping power failed him, and Kurtzios escaped. Kisling began to feel worried for the first time. He was a formidable opponent, no question, but he couldn't really let go and let Sif guide his arms and hands. At the temple, the priestesses had suggested he drop the cloak and the other stuff (especially the vampiric regeneration device) and put his faith in Sif. He just couldn't. For a while, he wandered around, sometimes alone, sometimes in a group. The Sif involvement in the Ring Saga was not solely his task anymore. Others, like Artagel and the up-and-coming Faramir did their parts too. Kisling drifted. For a while in 1104, he teamed up with Storm, the chaotic Falandrian lightning wizard. The two suffered the humiliation of being caught in a trap by Morgan, the Koiran who had assisted in the Sun Lands design years before. Since that time Morgan had gotten himself a new job as Yellow Dragon for the Pandese Empire. Well, Tarqin got them out of that one, and a year later Kisling did participate in the finding of the tiles. That event was hardly a happy one, since it meant the start of the Troll War. Kisling decided that he would fight in the war, but he didn't like the prospect of fighting alongside an army. He went to Ilandris to do what he could, and this turned out to be quite satisfying. Then, in December 1105, he met a person he had inadvertently promoted, Green Dragon LXVI, or Yaros, as Kisling preferred to call him. Yaros was born in Karn, a Zagy village, but had been abducted by the Pandese when he was two years old as a part of a punitive mission. He had gone to gladiator school, but was selected for kaerl ungar training because of his extraordinary prowess. As the highest ranking kaerl ungar, he had been field promoted to Dragon Knight after Kisling had killed the last one. Kisling liked Yaros, and saw him as a kindred spirit. However, Yaros was fey. Hardaukar was his emperor, but Hardaukar was also the Grand Master of the Pendragon Order, the Platinum Dragon. After besieging Taunenfels in 1101, Hardaukar had ordered all Pandese to look for swords containing anti-magic enchantment, so that he could personally enter Mordenkainen's Tower and take control of it, which would leave Taunenfels practically defenseless. In 1103, Yaros Karn happened to stop a thief carrying "Grimslade (the Wizardbane)". He ignored his emperor's command and returned the sword to its rightful owner. That was quite within correct behavior, but he was called home anyway. Again, Yaros ignored the command with the reason that he was on an unfinished mission. This, too, was perfectly 'legal', but the future of the Green Dragon looked bleak. He would be demoted upon return. So he did not return. In 1106, the Kisling and Yaros fought more or less back to back each day. Until the fall of Ilandris, the two ran supplies into the besieged city. After that they fought on the outer perimeter of the Twin Peaks fortifications. Countless times the trold folk were pushed back, but in September 1106, they were not. As he had done before, Yaros refused to withdraw, and so he died. Because of his magic regeneration, Kisling got out with his friend's body. Kisling trudged on, and continued to participate in the fighting withdrawal that constituted most of the Troll War. But much to his chagrin, he was not to represent Sif in the final sally into the Nightlands in 1109-10. Hardaukar had insisted on Artagel, and so it came to be. From that time, Kisling has spent much of his time as a regular adventurer, gaining some interesting items, but progressing very slowly as a swordsman.